A wave of backlash Thursday morning turned into tsunami by the evening for Major League Soccer, as incendiary comments from Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen sparked calls for him to sell his interest in MLS, threatening his standing as an owner in the league.
By the end of the day, MLS had opened an investigation into alleged racist comments by Hansen based on a report in an article in The Athletic. The story documented numerous alleged racist interactions between Hansen and players of color.
Earlier in the day, Hansen sparked a separate backlash based on his comments in response to most of Wednesday’s slate of MLS games being cancelled.